Is a licensed person needed for load-bearing wall determination?

I just bought my first house and am thinking about knocking out some walls and partial walls. From reading articles on the internet, I do not feel comfortable determining if the walls are load bearing myself. I called some people in the yellow pages and found a building inspector who could come in and make the determination for all of the walls in the house for $75. But he is NOT licensed. Does he need to be? Is it normal to have a licensed individual determine load bearing walls? Do I need to have a structural engineer make these decisions?

here's the catch... Depending on your town/municipality laws you may need a structural engineer to determine what supports you need once you remove a bearing wall but not necessarily just to tell you which walls are bearing. In my town, an Engineer is not needed. Perhaps you should call your town's building department and see what they say.

Please note that I am not a structural engineer and someone else may disagree with this assessment.

Pocket DoorI would like to know the draw backs/requirement...2 REPLIES